This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
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www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
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From: "ARS News Service"
To: "ARS News List"
Subject: New Species of Plant Fungi
Date: Mon, Aug 21, 2000, 6:59 AM
STORY LEAD:
Scientists Discover New Species of Plant Fungi
___________________________________________
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
August 21, 2000
Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@ars.usda.gov
___________________________________________
Researchers found 100 new species of the pathogenic plant fungus Fusarium
when they recently compared DNA from more than 3,000 strains collected
worldwide. The newly discovered species have left the scientists with
questions. Could these fungi survive in fields of U.S. grain? Should plant
breeding programs and quarantine programs take genetic information about
these fungi into account?
Some Fusarium species cause stalk rot and ear rot in corn. In wheat and
barley, they cause head blight or scab. Infected grain is unsuitable for
food or livestock feed, if it contains certain levels of fungal toxins.
In greenhouse tests, eight of the new species, mostly of exotic origin,
produced scab disease in wheat.
The Agricultural Research Service scientists who researched the Fusarium
species at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in
Peoria, Ill., collaborated with colleagues from North Dakota State
University in Fargo and the ARS Cereal Rust Laboratory in St. Paul, Minn.
The species are part of an 80,000-strain collection of agriculturally and
industrially important microorganisms maintained in the ARS Culture
Collection in Peoria.
The scientists say three of the scab-causing fungi may be native to Africa,
two to South and Central America, one to New Zealand and one to Asia. The
eighth scab-causing fungi is widespread and may be native to North America.
An article about the research appears in the August issue of Agricultural
Research magazine and online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug00/dna0800.htm
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief research agency.
___________________________________________
Scientific contact: Kerry L. O'Donnell, ARS National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., phone (309) 681-6383, fax (309)
681-6672, kodonnell@sunca.ncaur.usda.gov.
___________________________________________
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax (301) 504-1648.
